Münchausen
by flowinthestream12
Summary: Loki is so desperate for his father to show him affection and concern for his well-being that he starts to develop Münchausen syndrome - feigning an illness to gain attention. He decides to lose weight dramatically in order to gain sympathy. Though he tries to keep Thor out of it, Thor can't help but worry for his brother. Sorry, no slash. But, protective!Thor.
1. A Thought

The dining hall of the castle of Asgard was positively vibrating from the amount of banter going on inside of it. Cooks and servants were rushing out for fear of losing their hearing. But, Loki Laufeyson had endured thousands upon thousands of nights like this. His brother always had something to celebrate, commemorate, and regale them all with his tale. Thor was seated a few places down the dining table from Loki, the table straining beneath the delicious meals.

Loki's hair had grown almost past his shoulders, but, he still styled it slicked away from his face. His skin was still as pale as ever, his prominent cheekbones casting dark shadows that highlighted his sunken cheeks. He flinched when their guests erupted with guffaws at some witty remark from Thor he had missed. Loki found himself lost in thought more often since recovering from being tortured by the Chitauri. He was jumpy and was consumed by dread at the most random times.

There were times where Loki was not even certain why he felt stressed. He refused to accept that he was experiencing the Midgardian-equivalent of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He already had dark issues with his father that had led him to develop other mental illnesses. Loki did not need another. Thor had taken pity on him after recovering him from the Chitauri before they would send him to take over Earth with the Tesseract.

Loki was used to being coddled even though he appeared to be in his early thirties. Although he was no more than a hair shorter than Thor - it was honestly hard to tell which of them was taller sometimes - he had difficulty maintaining the muscles he put on. He was seldom ever questioned about his workout while Thor was pelted with them left and right and everywhere in between. The reality was that Loki usually lost quite a number of pounds between battles due to him going off the diet, but, still running every day. So, in spite of being a tall man, he was mollycoddled more often than he could tolerate.

King Odin and Queen Frigga had raised one large, brawny son and one slender son. They never checked if Thor ate enough like they did with Loki. As many naturally thin people could relate, Loki has been dodging judgmental remarks about his lithe frame his entire life. When he had to go for his first battle, putting on twenty pounds of muscle had been a struggle to say the least. Thor also lost weight between battles, but, he was more stocky than Loki.

It was not especially obvious. He seemed to lose weight more in his face than anywhere else. Loki had always been interested in his appearance as a lover of fashion and nutrition. He had a healthy body image, but, it was irritating to have to defend himself so often. Convincing others of it was exhausting.

Thor knew this and had come to his defense on more than one occasion. He had another opportunity this night.

"You've hardly touched your food," Odin commented, bouncing Loki's plate with a flick of his thumb so that vegetables and meat danced across its surface. "Eat."

Loki never took kindly to being ordered, "I can't finish it, father."

This was not entirely true. Though he no longer felt hungry, Loki knew that he could find room to clean off his dish. It was then that Loki realized something that could entertain his sadistic side: Odin seemed worried by Loki's reply. He would have felt a twinge of guilt if it had been Thor with whom he was speaking with. Thor, his cheerful and playful older brother, whom always took Loki's side in everything - to an extent. Loki had felt a certain uneasiness from Thor over the last hundred years or more, watching Loki steadily grow jaded by the universe.

Loki set thoughts of Thor on his backburner and focused on Odin's reaction. Loki enjoyed seeing him worry over him. Odin finally turned away to whisper pointedly in his wife's ear. Loki did not want to bring her in on his game, but, could not think of a way to keep Odin worried without allowing him to gossip over it. If this was a way to get more attention from his father, so be it.

Loki found himself starring at the sharp knuckles of his long, soft hands, "I am going to turn in for the night, father." He then added for dramatic effect, "I've had a trying day."

Thor finally heard Loki's silky deep voice say those words and his glittering blue eyes turned to gaze up at him rising, "But, the night has only begun, brother!" His grin stretched with hope when Loki met his eyes, "Stay for another drink!"

One word from his older brother was usually enough to persuade Loki to stay a little longer. But, not tonight. Thor had his long wavy blond locks partially tied away from his face and there were a few tight braids peaking out here and there. He had thick stubble bushing around his square jaw and up around his pink lips. He was still wearing his crimson cape and battle armor from practice.

He was the perfect Asgardian prince, would-be-king.

"It 'tis late, Thor." Loki gave him a placating smile, one that also did not reach his eyes. "I'll see you in the morning."

Thor's eyes really did twinkle like the bright stars overhead. Those eyes made Loki instantly sorry that he ever hurt Thor. He turned away from his brother and avoided his father's gaze strategically. Loki turned away his escorts and made the journey to his chambers alone. Once there, he crossed the tiled floor and sank down onto his blankets miserably.

He had won back his mother and his brother's trust. But, he still felt vindictive against his father. Loki could not help the resentment that boiled underneath his porcelein surface. He had been starving for Odin's attention for thousands of years - all of his life. Loki snatched up his thick silk pillow and pushed his chiseled face into it to stifle his agonizing scream.

Jet-black ravens that had been perched on his balcony behind him took flight at the muffled, but, sudden roar. As he lost his breath, Loki ended his scream in croaky gasps. There was a word for this game back on Midgard: _Münchausen ____syndrome__._Loki figured that if he recognized the label for this game, that did not mean that he actually suffered from the disorder. His mother and Thor would be excluded from this game.

Loki was going to get Odin's attention in the last way he thought would be possible. Perhaps he could recover the sympathetic king that took pity on an abandoned Jotun baby.


	2. Patience

As a Jotun with a very fast metabolism, it took no more than a week for Loki to make a notable change in his appearance. He had considered merely making a copy of himself in a dire health crisis. But, Loki figured that he would not feel the same amount of satisfaction as he would if he truly lost some weight. He needed to be immediately present to appreciate the concern. He noticed that his cheekbones and jaw line were sharpening as were his collarbones distending more noticeably.

His pants still fit snuggly around his hips and his tops still fit. That was probably why that the king of Asgard had not dropped his guard yet. Loki wondered how thin he would have to get before Odin raised the alarm. He had not found it as easy as he had assumed to forgo eating so often. If Odin has not noticed anything amiss, his eldest son certainly has.

Thor stepped into Loki's chambers, an expansive room similar in construction to his own. Whereas Thor's chambers were illuminated by grand glassless windows with the drapes always secured apart, Loki's quarters were swallowed by shadow no matter what time of day it was. As it was now, it was night. Thor found it rather difficult to maneuver around the furniture even with the few candles lit. But, he hardly made a sound apart from the rustle of his red cape.

He identified a towering lanky form seated on the extravagant bench on Loki's balcony, shadowed by a transparent curtain. Thor changed course to greet his younger and very troubled brother.

"Father sent you to check up on me, did he?" sounded Loki's silky deep voice.

Thor had been under the impression that Loki had not sensed his approach and he halted upon being discovered. Loki seethed for another moment over how he had still not broken Odin after this rather difficult week. He turned to gaze over his shoulder through the curtain at the instantly recognizable brawny outline of his older brother. Thor was well over six feet tall and easily weighed over two hundred pounds of muscle, to go by midgardian units of measure.

Loki leered as he turned his back on Thor, "Pathetic. _Odin_ feels concern, but, he dare not show it to his embarrassment?"

"He has reason to be concerned?" Thor asked, already assuming Loki would not confide in him before his question was spoken. "He's our father, Loki." He reprimanded him patiently, resuming his approach. "He deserves respect even when he's not present to hear your invective opinions."

"'_He deserves respect_' ...," Loki repeated under his breath. He stood up to grip the stone railing and gazed down to the rocky ground hundreds of feet below his balcony, hissing, "I _trusted_ him!"

Thor did not hear him, "Regardless ... father did not send me." He stepped through the curtains to join Loki out on his grand balcony, "I came of my own will ... Loki."

Loki could feel Thor's warm eyes on him, watching him gaze upon the ground below. With Thor so close, with what he was looking at, triggered a terrible memory in Loki. He recalled dangling from Thor's hand over the shattered bridge. He could not see Thor's despair then and he did not recognize it now. He re-watched the look of utter disappointment in Odin's eye as he rejected Loki.

Loki had felt so utterly broken that not even Thor's plea could keep him holding on. He fell through the abyss ... Loki felt his stomach flipping. He blinked and found that he was still standing on his balcony. Thor took advantage of Loki's distraction to analyze his younger brother more closely. He had not seen him this close in nearly a week.

Thor was not as stupid as Loki would insist. He took alarm by the change in Loki's temperament, albeit the adopted Jotun had was infamous for his moodiness. Thor could always detect if Loki was truly troubled. If only he had started to show his concerns earlier in their lives together.

"Please, brother." Thor implored, laying a very heavy hand on Loki's knobby shoulder, "Come to the hall with me. Have some supper -"

"Because stuffing my face will erase all of what has been done to me?!" Loki rolled his green eyes and jerked his shoulder away, "Leave me, Thor."

He had not meant to give that outburst. Thor's hand was left hovering where Loki's shoulder had been.

"Why do you reject my company so?" Thor dared to ask him.

Loki curled his lip, "I don't need company!"

"Maybe," Thor pouted, feeling rejected. "But, I do. And I enjoy yours."

Loki's lip relaxed at that, "Thank you ... brother." He still could not look at him, "But, I need to be alone this night."


End file.
